Nurse impersonator arrested for stealing from hospitals

(KHOU.com) HOUSTON – Harris County deputies say a woman’s act was so convincing she fooled doctors and nurses into thinking she was one of them.

Robin Carmouche, 22, was arrested on charges she snuck into area hospitals and stole credit cards.

“She was going into hospitals and clinics, wearing scrubs, posing as a nurse and shopping for purses and billfolds,” said Lt. Jeff Stauber. “It’s thousands of dollars and dozens of cases.”

In one case, deputies say Carmouche was actually able to walk into the intensive care unit at Cypress Fairbanks Hospital and steal a wallet from a doctor’s purse while she was tending to patients. Carmouche then went to nearby Walmart and Target stores and rang up hundreds of dollars in credit card bills.

Investigators say they have her on surveillance video both stealing credit cards and using them to purchase merchandise from retail stores. Carmouche is out on parole for doing the exact same thing, according to police.

But Carmouche insists she is innocent.

“There are two hundred women in Houston that are heavy set, short haired and tattooed,” said Carmouche as she was being led away in handcuffs. “That could be anyone on that video, they could be from your family.”

Deputies say they’ve been looking for Carmouche for weeks. A detective happened to have today off and was on the golf course when he got the tip from Crimestoppers. He dropped his club, came in and made the arrest.

“I’m very comfortable based on the evidence that we collected in this case and the hard work we have done that we have the right person,” said Lt. Stauber.